ANTIGO — A local man whose close friend was killed after he ran a stop sign while intoxicated and was hit by an oncoming vehicle in late 2022 was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to 60 days in jail and two years of probation.
According to the criminal complaint, Anton Novak Jr., a 61-year-old from Deerbrook, was driving west in a Honda Ridgeline on Lloyd Creek Rd. with his friend Richard “Rich” Wiegert around 9 p.m. Dec. 29, 2022 when he ran a stop sign and was t-boned by a Ford F250 pickup truck that had been traveling northbound on County Highway H. After being transported to Aspirus Langlade Hospital, Wiegert, who was a vice chairman on the Langlade County Board, was pronounced dead.
Novak’s sentence came after District Attorney Kelly Hays agreed to a plea agreement that reduced the original charge of operating while intoxicated and causing homicide to operating while intoxicated and causing injury.
Hays said the largest reason she agreed to the charge was because an autopsy wasn’t done following the crash, making it impossible to prove that it alone caused Weigert’s death.
Another factor in Hays’ decision was the support Novak received from Weigert’s own family.
“To have that response from somebody who is just in the beginning of shock and grieving, and her response being concern for the defendant, says a lot to me about the relationship between the victim and the defendant and about the defendant himself,” Hays said.
“I don’t know that there’s anything I can say today or that the court can say or that the defense counsel can say that is going to drive home to Mr. Novak the seriousness of his actions, the consequences of his actions, and to never, ever do something like this again. I don’t think any words can be spoken that are going to have more of an impact than the loss that he has suffered as well.”
Novak too made a short statement during the hearing in which he referenced Weigert’s family.
“I lost my best friend,” Novak said. “Richie’s wife…wished me the best of luck today. She’s the one that got me through…she’s the one that keeps me going, I’m not going to lie. I have no intention of drinking. I’m never going to drink and drive again — that’s God’s honest truth. I’ll go on your programs, whatever you need me to do, but that’s the last thing you’ve got to worry about from me. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
When sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene on the night in question in Dec. 2022, they found both vehicles in the ditch on the west side of County Highway H. Novak’s Honda had heavy driver-side damage but was still upright, while the Ford F250 was resting on its passenger side.
The driver of a vehicle which had been traveling behind the Ford during the crash reported to responding sheriff’s deputies that the results of the accident could have been far worse if the Ford’s driver had not slammed on the brakes as he did when Novak’s vehicle entered the intersection (the Ford F250 driver’s wife, two children, and dog were also in the vehicle at the time).
If Novak violates his probation, he will serve an additional year in county jail, which his attorney Dennis Melowski suggested will be sufficient incentive for him to avoid offending in any manner once he is released.
“Mr. Novak is facing a significant period of probation,” Melowski said. “He understands what that means. He understands the significance of having a one year imposed state jail sentence hanging over his head. He knows that there’s no margin for error while he’s on probation. He understands that absolute sobriety is something that is going to be critical during that two year period of time. He takes these things very seriously.”
While Melowski acknowledged his client bore responsibility for his Weigert’s death — his blood alcohol content was .252 on the night in question — he said “extenuating circumstances” such as the weather conditions on the night of the incident also played a significant role.
“This incident happened on an extremely foggy night — one of the foggiest nights in Langlade County history probably,” Melowski said. “So dense was the fog that actually one of the responding officers to the scene went off the road because of the fog conditions at the time. Mr. Novak was traveling on what I think would correctly be described as backroads that he was not very familiar with, went through a stop sign that he never saw, and this accident took place. So I believe that Mr. Novak has a defense even above and beyond some of the other issues that were stated by the court.”
While Judge John Rhode accepted the joint recommendation and suggested that nothing he was aware of in regards to Novak’s past suggested he would offend again, he added that allowing a reduced sentence for any serious crime gave him pause due to his responsibility to deter similar offenses from community members in the future.
“When you’re making an amendment of drastic or significant charges, there has to be some really strong contemplation of that for sure,” Rhode said. “That’s the appropriate thing to do under the circumstances, specifically the circumstances of not making light of operating while under the influence charges, especially where somebody has been injured or in this case, killed because of those actions.”
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